MAKING HISTORY: THE ROAD TO A BETTER FUTURE
THE NEW AGE OF DIRECTOR SKILL REQUIREMENTS WHERE WE ARE AND WHERE WE NEED TO BE
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overnance is built upon the principle of being wise and responsible. No matter how systems have developed and changed since the inception of this principle, the general ethos remains that we must be wise and responsible to be good directors. At Governance Evaluator, we are constantly examining where the state of governance is across the many sectors in which we work. In a recent discussion with experienced aged care director Peter Budd, he summarised what the aim of aged care directors should be: “Every aged care director needs to go to bed at night feeling assured that every resident in their organisation has gone to bed happy, safe, loved, valued and cared for.” This is what we are aiming for: creating more directors who are governing organisations with residents at the heart of all they do. However, the roadmap is constantly shifting in the landscape of evolving legislation and oversight obligations. We are finding ourselves in a new age of director requirements, and at the centre of this is having the right skill sets.
What is the current skills status?
In the Governance Evaluator 2020 Governance Data Insights whitepaper, we identified that one of the top five risks across all sectors was directors not understanding the sector or “the business” they are in. This is a significant issue as it means directors are not able to be as discerning about the risks for the organisation they are overseeing. They are not as confident to engage in discussion and are often more operational than strategic, so the setting of future strategy becomes more difficult. Looking specifically at the aged care sector results, Governance Evaluator used information provided by 205 aged care directors who completed the Director Development and Skills Matrix questionnaire in 2020. When asked about skill sets, only 56 per cent could say they had extensive or intermediate level skills and experience. In contrast, 72 per cent said they had extensive or intermediate professional
director skills or experience. While they did not necessarily lack professional skills, they self-identified a lack of experience within the sector in areas such as clinical governance, quality systems and asset management. The traditional approach to building board competency levels is to increase the range of professional skills, often from a business or financial background. In aged care, this has led to boards being more focused on finance rather than quality, culture or clinical governance. All too frequently, we speak to well-seasoned directors with extensive professional and governance backgrounds who say they have never been asked what they know about the sector in which their organisation operates. This narrative needs to change.
What do the new skills look like?
Looking ahead to the future, the skills set required by directors and boards needs to change to help create a better aged care system. Directors still need the right professional skills, but we need them to approach their role using a combination of head and heart. They need to have the right attributes and compassion required to exercise their oversight responsibilities in relation to clinical, quality and safety risks, as well as a strategic knowledge of business and finance. Boards also need to have a diverse group of directors representing the different community, social and economic groups they serve in their community. It is important that the directors also accept and welcome diversity. Importantly, for competent governance this diversity needs to be balanced by every director having strategic knowledge relevant to aged care, in areas such as quality, clinical care and asset management. Ultimately, we need to support and develop directors, like Peter Budd, who think not only with their head but with their heart, and have the attributes and skills to understand the business and our aged care consumer’s needs. Fi Mercer is CEO & Founder, Governance Evaluator.
For more information visit www.governanceevaluator.com
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